Referee Bill Vinovich selected by NFL to lead Super Bowl LVIII officiating crew

We do not know who will be playing in Super Bowl LVIII in a few weeks, but we do know the crew that will officiate the game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The NFL announced on Tuesday that Bill Vinovich will be the lead referee as part of a crew that will include umpire Terry Killens, down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Tom Hill, side judge Allen Baynes, back judge Brad Freeman and replay official Mike Chase.

As NFL Senior Vice President of Football and International Communications Michael Signora noted after the announcement, Killens will become the first person to have played in and officiate a Super Bowl.

Killens played seven seasons in the NFL with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. He was on the Titans team that lost to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, recording a tackle on special teams.

Vinovich gets third Super Bowl callAccording to ESPN Stats and Information, Vinovich’s crews have averaged the “fewest, or close to the fewest” flags per game (13.4) during the 2023 NFL regular season.

Since the NFL selects the Super Bowl officiating crews on merit, Vinovich will be part of an all-star group reffing the game and not with his usual teammates.

This will be Vinovich’s third time officiating a Super Bowl and second in the last five years. He previously was part of officiating crews for Super Bowl XLIX (New England Patriots vs. Seahawks) and Super Bowl LIV (San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs).

Vinovich was famously the lead referee for “NOLA No-call” in the NFC championship game in 2019 when Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman got away with defensive pass interference on New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis late in the game. The Rams would go on to win in overtime and lose the Super Bowl to the Patriots two weeks later.

The NFL would later acknowledge it was a missed call with commissioner Roger Goodell pointing to human error.